The Politics of the Nazi Past in Germany and Austria

This book compares the influence of the Nazi past in contemporary German and Austrian politics.

David Art (Author)

9780521673242, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 December 2005

246 pages, 3 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.37 kg

"To understand the differences between Germany and Austria, it is necessary to read David Art's book. Art stresses convincingly the reasons for and the results of different attitudes toward Nazism: After 1945, Germany had to accept the role of a perpetrator. Austria was allowed to nourish the role of a victim. The consequences are known from the Waldheim affair to Joerg Haideras rise to significant power, unthinkable in post-1945 Germany." Anton Pelinka, University of Innsbruck, Austria

This book argues that Germans and Austrians have dealt with the Nazi past very differently and these differences have had important consequences for political culture and partisan politics in the two countries. Drawing on different literatures in political science, Art builds a framework for understanding how public deliberation transforms the political environment in which it occurs. The book analyzes how public debates about the 'lessons of history' created a culture of contrition in Germany that prevented a resurgent far right from consolidating itself in German politics after unification. By contrast, public debates in Austria nourished a culture of victimization that provided a hospitable environment for the rise of right-wing populism. The argument is supported by evidence from nearly two hundred semi-structured interviews and an analysis of the German and Austrian print media over a twenty-year period.

1. Introduction
2. Public debates and political change
3. The culture of contrition
4. The victim culture
5. Combating the Far Right in Germany
6. Taming the Far Right in Austria?
7. Conclusions and extensions.

Subject Areas: Comparative politics [JPB], European history [HBJD]